PASSION & PURPOSE: SPRING 2025
A message from Winter Kinne
In my nearly 20-year career with the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, I've often reflected on why I feel so drawn to this organization, to this mission and to the nonprofit sector.
I didn't grow up with parents who were on committees or boards. I didn't have a life event that changed the way I saw the world. I grew up in Mount Vernon on a small horse farm that included barn cats, ducks, chickens, guineas, a pot-bellied pig and a wayward Tyson turkey that somehow escaped the transport trailer. My mom volunteered for class parties, my dad helped with two years of elementary basketball, all while we fed and watered the animals 365 days a year.
I was a joiner (let's be honest, still am). At a rural school, I could be a part of anything if I was interested. Choir, student council, yearbook, organizing the blood drive — I was involved.
Winter credits growing up on a farm in Mount Vernon for teaching her the joy of helping others. “I believe that farm life required me to put the needs of others before my own.”
I believe that farm life required me to put the needs of others before my own, and being hardwired to be a joiner taught me to find joy in helping.
Fred Rogers credited his mother with the saying "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." This line is often used amid tragedy, but I believe it applies in everyday life.
Helping is the very essence of philanthropy. And for me, it shows up profoundly in schools: in teachers, administrators, counselors and coaches; in students who choose to spend their time supporting fellow students and their hometowns; in community members who give time or money to provide a greater experience to young people; in individuals who choose to share their legacies with future generations they'll never know.
The CFO wholeheartedly believes that schools and communities are intertwined. We formalized that belief in 2009 when we launched the Rural Schools Partnership. We were fortunate to be on the ground floor when the Rural Schools Collaborative, now a significant national network, was created. We believe supportive, school-based philanthropy changes student trajectories. We are incredibly proud of our work and grateful for our donors' support in this area.
In the pages ahead you'll find stories about these efforts. They are the stories of helpers.
— Winter Kinne is president and CEO of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. This letter is featured in the spring 2025 edition of Passion & Purpose.
